Thanks for your reply fordmantpw! Where are you located? I'm in Central Indiana. The Capitol City Ford dealership in the pictures is on the East Side of Indianapolis. They do a lot of AXZ Plan deals. The now demolished Ford/Visteon plant site in Indy was 3 miles away. I worked there for many years.
Ford Could Reintroduce Entry Level Vehicles Across The Globe
https://fordauthority.com/2024/06/ford-could-reintroduce-entry-level-vehicles-across-the-globe/
Ford is currently rethinking its global lineup in big ways, moving from an aggressive EV-centric strategy to a more balanced approach. This shift comes after the automaker discontinued the Ford Fiesta in 2023 and will wind down Ford Focus production in 2025. However, based on recent comments from Ford CEO Jim Farley, it’s possible the company may course correct and introduce at least one entry level vehicle that can be sold at regions where Ford has regained its footing.
Speaking at the 2024 Bernstein Strategic Decisions Conference, Ford’s head honcho says the company is thinking about expanding in regions that the company has financially turned around in recent years, and that those vehicles would most likely be on the cheaper end of the spectrum. “I’d say the real interesting question is, in South America, Africa and South Africa specifically for us, in Thailand where we have 2 plants and growing Ranger business, all those places we’ve restructured dramatically to be profitable. Which we are now very profitable. And yet the Chinese competitors are coming in with ICE vehicles too there. And we have a choice between do we grow and how profitable is that growth? Or do we stay where we are?,” said Farley.
“We think we have to futureproof that business. We think that just staying where we are with Ranger and Everest could be a risk. We believe that the competitors that we’re seeing there in all those markets now are very fit and we don’t want to do what happened in many markets for Ford, so we need to compete in the low end and we need to futureproof the electrification of those products. And we’ll do it smartly where we can make money and we’ll be thoughtful about partnerships,” he added.
Farley made his comments not long after Ford Europe’s outgoing head of passenger vehicles suggested that the company is considering working on a new generation of small cars. The automaker has retreated from smaller segments in recent years as it rationalized in its global manufacturing footprint. In its place, Ford switched to an export-oriented strategy for South America, where the Ford Bronco and Ford Maverick now compete. At the moment, it isn’t clear if the company is thinking about a spiritual successor to the Ford Ka, which was an entry vehicle sold in global markets, but it sure sounds like Ford is evaluating the feasibility of products with a similar mission statement.
Ford may be essentially forced to compete in less expensive segments due to the proliferation of cheap Chinese EVs across the globe. As Ford Authority previously reported, the company is planning on introducing a $26K EV for the North American market by 2027 that is also being designed to compete globally. Ford is also considering reentering India to establish a new manufacturing presence in the company as well. In Europe, the Ford Focus was among the top 50 best selling vehicles on the continent in 2023 despite facing cancellation.
This page had a good rundown of the changes made to the Chinese model:
JMC-Ford Bronco | China Car Forums
I'd imagine we may see similar to ours.
I hope the squared wheel flares don't make it though, I don't think they look good.